928 Journal of a trip through Kunawur. [Nov. 



we'll be here by sunset ! At this time it was one o'clock in the day, 

 and the first four miles were up a hill that appeared in the distance 

 to be almost inaccessible to anything but the ibex itself, yet the 

 hardy little mountaineer was true to his word, and returned before 

 sunset with his friend the hunter. He was a black-faced, short, square- 

 built fellow, with scarcely any perceptible eyes, so shaded were they 

 by his bushy projecting eyebrows, and high cheek bones. He was 

 well clad in woollen clothes, and round his waist was fastened a brass 

 chain, from which was suspended a steel, a powder flask, and a long 

 sharp knife. He was a hardy looking fellow, and from his frank and 

 easy manner evidently one who could boldly look danger in the face, 

 and who knew how to meet it like a man. He was as keen and 

 anxious for a brush with the ibex, as I was to obtain one, so that 

 powder and balls being furnished, he declared his readiness to start by 

 break of day. As to my attempting to go with him, he laughed out- 

 right at the idea, and said at once, unless I staid where I was, he 

 would not go, for I should infallibly break my neck, and spoil his 

 sport into the bargain. 



The chase of these animals is one often attended with great danger, 

 from the inaccessible nature of the cliffs among which they love to 

 roam, and there are few who are hardy enough to follow it. Often 

 the hunter is obliged to crawl on his hands and knees along some 

 ledge of rock projecting over a glen or chasm of several thousand 

 feet in depth, and from such a spot laying on his belly, snake-like, he 

 draws himself along, takes aim, and fires on the unsuspecting herd. 

 If the shot be successful, it is still a matter of much difficulty and 

 danger to procure the quarry, from the steepness of the rocks among 

 which it lies, and too often the last struggle of departing life causes it, 

 when almost within the hunter's grasp, to slip off the ledge, and fall 

 headlong with thundering crash down into the yawning gulph, a prey 

 to the vulture and the crow. These animals are sought for chiefly for 

 their skins, which are either sold or made into shoes, &c. and the 

 horns are presented as an acceptable offering to the deity, and nailed 

 upon the walls of the temples. 



Matters being soon arranged, my sturdy friend departed to the 

 hunting ground, accompanied by a shikarree whom I had brought 

 with me from Kotgurh, promising to do his best, but saying that 

 most likely he would get nothing, as the summer season coining on, 

 caused the animals to retire to the last ridges of the mountains, where 

 no man could follow them. 



About sunset on the following day, my own shikarree returned 



